I wonder, if Barack and Michelle Obama had exchanged a tongue-kiss the other night the way Al and Tipper Gore did at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, if the press would have turned it into a Major Story™.

Watching the press response to "the fist-pound heard 'round the world" has been amusing, to say the least. Their take seems to be that this couple has given us a glimpse into a culture as unknown to those hard-working Americans....WHITE Americans... to whom Hillary Clinton referred -- the Strange World of Black People.

We first saw this press spin on the Strange World of Black People when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright gave us a peek inside the black church. Until then, the closest most white Americans had gotten to a black church was this:

Or this:

And now we have the Zen of the Fist Pound. What does it mean? Is it some kind of Secret Black People Handshake? Maybe some kind of Black Muslim Christian Terrorist Manchurian Candidate Code?

Anyone who's gone to Jamaica and had any interaction with the local residents is well-familiar with the fist pound as a gesture of respect. But the Larger Meaning of the Fist Pound is filling up a great deal of press time and ink during this lull that's essentially batting practice for the fall presidential campaign:

Is anyone else getting a bit of an "observing a species in its native habitat" vibe out of this?

Here's America's newest cultural anthropologist and expert on the Strange World of Black People, Jeanne Moss, on CNN yesterday:

Here we see what's coming this fall. Of course race is going to be the elephant in the room until Election Day, but I'm sure this is what we can expect -- to be tourists on the media tour bus, listening to media morons explaining what we're seeing in the Strange World of Black People.

It is kind of funny to see the media treating it like something from the "Strange World of Black People" when the "fist-bump" (as they're calling it) has been around for a really long time and is used by most races in America. It was like the mid-90's version of the high five.

Just about every athlete under the age of 50, whether or not he or she is white, black, Asian, Hispanic, European, male, or female, has done the "fist bump," "fist pound," or "dap" with a teammate or golf/tennis partner. It's a jock thing.

Some rights of this page's plain text stuffs are reserved for the author.
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors of said opinions, and do not in any way represent the opinions of other contributors.
The Template is generated via PsycHo and is Licensed.